Turkey - Saturday 1st October

It was an early start, about 2.45am to be precise, but we had to get the airport for our 6.30am flight. It was an uneventful flight, a much longer flight than we were used to but that added to the excitement that we were actually going away for a decent period of time!

We landed at the Sabiha Gokcen Airport and went through the horrible scenario of Lou's pack not turning up on the baggage carousel….until she went to oversized luggage on the off chance that it would be there….and what do you know.

Luckily our driver that was going to take us to our hotel was still there. The system was incredibly confusing, just on our little bus they were people going to about 8 different hotels which meant a journey that should have taken 45 mins took over 2 hours, bearing in mind we had been up for a very long time and hadn't eaten. The worst part was when the driver pulled over and said to us in the worst English possible, "if I take you to your hotel it will take another 2 hours, but if you get on the tram you can be there in 10 minutes".

Uh, ok. So we figured out what we were meant to do and finally found our hotel. Not the best start for our tour company that promised a free airport transfer! Nevertheless we quickly got changed into summer clothes as it was gloriously sunny, and ventured out to our first destination – the Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar, opened in 1461 is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with more than 58 covered streets and over 4,000 shops which attract half a million visitors daily. It was very cool, all the shops selling pashminas, coffee, tea and random other stuff and the shop keepers who played a good bargaining game. Lou did some good deals and then we were off to the next market on our list, the Spice Bazaar, which was essentially the same as the Grand Bazaar but with food!

 

We gave into our hunger cravings and bought a chicken kebab from a roadside stall, defying all health warnings about eating salad washed in the local water and all that. It was dam tasty.

Lou got a wee bit excited about all the different herbs and spices, little cakes, a million types of dried fruits and nuts, and she convinced Hamish to buy a piece of baklava which was incredible. Imagine layers of filo, with honey, pistachios and syrup….mmmm. Hamish wasn't such a fan.

After the markets we took to wandering around for awhile and we stumbled upon the New Mosque which was completed in 1599. The structure was typical of most of the mosques in Istanbul but still pretty incredible. It was nice that people were still using it as a place to pray as well as it being a tourist attraction! 

We were pretty worn out so we headed back to our hotel for our first meeting with our guide and the rest of our tour party. We were unsure about the tour option, we have done our holidays at a furious pace for so long, it was weird having someone else tell you where to go and what to do. Our guide was a nice chap called Hussein, and he seemed pretty knowledgeable. and cracked a few funnies. The rest of our tour were an odd mix, about 35 people, half our age, half a lot older.

After the meeting adjourned, we went in search of some dinner. We came across this great place that had a menu with photos. Always a key factor in deciding on a restaurant. We had a whole roast chicken and a selection of Turkish veges for a very reasonable price and were stuffed full as a result.

Highlights: The sights, the smells, the sun. It all came together in the end. Also loved how the shopping district was divided into different streets for different categories of shopping, there was the musical instrument street, the kitchen appliances street and the stationary street to name a few.

Lowlights: The dam traffic and the transfer van driver, not helpful.  

Interesting Fact: Apparently I look like Shakira and Hamish is my bodyguard, according to more than one Turkish pashmina seller.